The “index” is one of three categories of sign in a well-known categorization by Charles Saunders Peirce. Where icons signify by resemblance and symbols through arbitrary convention, indices have a real, spatial or causal relationship, to that which they signify. Examples include pointing fingers and smoke from a fire.
The latter indicates substantial overlap with the category of “natural signs” according to Saint Augustine. Unlike conventional signs, natural signs are generally effects which point to their causes: smoke and footprints are the classic examples. Later medieval theologians frequently grappled with Augustine’s sign theory, in contexts rangeing from pure speculation to urgent questions about the validity of church rites.
Relatedly or not, medieval works of art frequently make use of qualities we would call “indexical” to make a variety of claims. These include historical claims made by the deliberate inclusion of old material; political claims articulated through the technology of the seal; religious claims through traces like footprints; and, crucially, image-theoretical claims through “acheiropoieta” or images not made with human hands. Medieval art thus offers a way to consider a variety of forms of indexicality in art, and how that impacts the way we perceive image-objects
The seminar will combine modern and medieval sign-theoretical texts with the study of a variety of medieval works which draw on the modality of the index.
Hausarbeit
Die Veranstaltung wurde 2 mal im Vorlesungsverzeichnis SoSe 2025 gefunden:
